Directors Francis Ford Coppola and Jean-Luc Godard, actor Eli Wallach and historian Kevin Brownlow are this year's recipients of the Governor's Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Actor Shia LaBeouf has turned method actor with his role in Wall Street 2 - spending all his spare time trading stocks and shares. The Transformers star knew nothing about the financial world when he was first cast by Oliver Stone for the key role in his Wall Street follow-up. He says he walked into a brokerage firm and asked for help - and soon got so hooked, it has become the biggest part of his life. He says he used $20,000 to study the markets: "As of this morning, that's $297,000." He added: "I manage my own portfolio. I check through the day, read the daily Wall Street Journal, trade personally on my cellphone, text people throughout the day, carry my laptop on the set, have Bloomberg on speed-dial. I now have lots of friends in lots of places." And he is not alone, as co-star Josh Brolin has also become hooked on trading. "Shia and Josh Brolin finish their scenes, then talk market all day," director Stone said. "I now go to Shia to ask, 'What's happening in the market?' He started on it with this film and now knows everything." But the actor insists it was a far different story when he was first cast for the role. "When this film offer came and only four days before I met Oliver, I knew I didn't know a derivative bond from a shareholder and had to learn quickly," he recalled.

Tycoon Donald Trump appears to be supplying the inspiration for the villain in Wall Street 2. Trump was recently seen having dinner with the movie's director Oliver Stone and main star Shia LaBeouf. But insiders say paying the most attention was actor Josh Brolin, who is set to play the movie's villain. The group had dinner at New York's swanky 21 club - the same restaurant a pivotal scene in the original Wall Street was filmed in. One insider said: "Brolin was almost uncanny in his depiction of the 43rd president in W, so he probably would have no trouble impersonating Trump after picking his brain for entrepreneurial knowledge."